Adequate, affordable fuel critical for India’s growth: Manmohan

January 13, 2014 11:20 am

Agencies, Greater Noida
Stressing that availability of adequate fuel at affordable prices is critical for the economic growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India needs to increase its energy supply by three to four times over the next two decades to meet the growing demand.

‘’India currently is the world’s seventh largest energy producer, accounting for about 2.5 per cent of the world’s total annual energy production. But, it is the fourth largest energy consumer and is slated to become the third largest by the year 2020. This implies that we need to increase our energy supply by three to four times over the next two decades,’’ Dr Singh said here while inaugurating Petrotech-2014.

He said for the Indian economy, it is critical to have adequate supply of energy at affordable prices.

Dr Singh said there is a need to bridge the ever increasing gap between demand and domestic supply.

With this in mind, he said the government is encouraging the domestic and global company to explore potentially hydrocarbon-rich areas in the framework of a stable and enabling policy environment.

‘’We are also pursuing other option to achieve energy security. We have made a number of changes in our energy policy regime in the last few months,’’ Dr Singh said.

The Prime Minister said as India configures its policy framework to get back to the high growth-rate trajectory envisioned in the 12th Five-Year Plan, the development of the energy sector and particularly the hydrocarbon space must be given particular attention.

Dr Singh said, ‘’The global oil and gas industry requires new technologies and processes, innovative thinking and creative business models to meet emerging challenges now on the horizon.’’ He said the best way of achieving these ends is through partnerships amongst various stakeholders. ‘’Such partnerships could result in outcomes like improved recovery from mature fields, exploitation of ultra-deep water energy reserves and progress in complex frontier areas. They could also help in exploitation of unconventional forms of energy, apart from addressing concerns about environmental degradation and climate change,’’ he said.

Dr Singh said India is committed to reducing its carbon footprint as a ‘’responsible member’’ of the global community.